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Pakistan captain Babar Azam shouldered the responsibility for his team’s underwhelming performance in the T20 World Cup 2024, attributing their exit to a collective failure rather than placing blame on individual players.
Pakistan’s T20 World Cup campaign ended with a whimper, failing to progress to the Super 8 stage. This marked a significant disappointment for a team considered to be among the contenders.
Babar Azam acknowledges team’s underperformance
In his last press conference at the tournament, Azam acknowledged the shortcomings of his team. “We did not play well as a team. It’s not that we lost because of one person. As a team, we lost. As a team we were not able to click. Sometimes we did well with our bowling but we did not do well in batting. The pitches here – you saw that they helped the fast bowlers a little. But I think our batting did not click,” he said.
Babar’s contemplations followed a thrilling but ultimately insignificant three-wicket win over Ireland on Sunday. The match held no bearing on the tournament’s overall outcome, given that both Pakistan and Ireland were already out of Super 8 contentions. From Group A, India and the USA progressed to the next round.
Also READ: Netizens react as Pakistan survive Ireland scare to claim thrilling win in T20 World Cup 2024
“It’s the fault of all the 15 players”: Babar
Babar also highlighted his team’s inability to capitalize on early opportunities and finish strong.
“When the games were in our hands – we lost wickets because of which we lost two crucial matches [against the USA and India]. We were going ahead and the pressure was on the other team. But when you lose back-to-back wickets, you know the pressure builds. There are some dot balls, where you have to build partnerships. When the pressure builds, you take chances. Today, you saw that we were going easily, but then the back-to-back wickets fell. There was a little pressure and we took the game deep,” remarked Azam.
“The expectations that we had made of the team, the way our senior players were, we didn’t execute. We couldn’t deliver at different times. So, we accept that as a player and as a captain, I don’t want to blame anyone. I don’t want to point out that it’s their fault. It’s the fault of all the 15 players.
“As a team, we did not play. We are losing as a team. I am not saying this because of one person. You are pointing out that because of the captain… I cannot play in every player’s place. There are 11 players and each of them has a role. That’s why they came here to play the World Cup. I think we as a team have not been able to apply, follow and finish things. We have to settle down and accept that we didn’t play well as a team,” the Pakistani skipper added.
